 |
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
 |
OPEN HOUSE HOURS Last week, the Residence Life Department announced that open house hours would be extended on Fridays – beginning at noon and ending at 1:00 a.m. – an addition of five hours. In addition, men will also be allowed in women’s residence hall basements until 1 a.m. every night. These changes are result of a proposal submitted by Student Senate in the fall after conducting their annual survey of students. These changes resulted from a proposal made by Student Senate to the Student Life Committee, in the fall semester of this year. The original proposal called for an expansion of open house to Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00 to 10:00 p.m. and the elimination of Wednesday open house. These changes were to be implemented this year, followed by an extension of weekend open house to 2:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday next year. According to Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Student Senate, implementing open house changes on weekends would break the contracts made with RA’s at the beginning of the year. As the policy now stands, RA’s do their weekend rounds an hour later than contracted. “I’m pleased to see that something is being done about open house,” said Konyndyk, “but I’m disappointed that [Residence Life] went ahead without discussing it with us at all. We could have had a good dialogue about the policy … so obviously I’m a bit miffed.” Konyndyk refers to the fact that Residence Life did not inform Student Senate that open house policy would change until the letter announcing the change was circulated last Friday.
Other departments may not have been amply informed of the changes either. According to sophomore Matt Poole, a Campus Safety officer told him on Sunday night that he was not allowed in the Eldersveld basement after 12:00. “I told him that the policy had changed regarding women’s basements,” said Poole. “He said that he didn’t hear anything about the policy change until I told him.” The new open house hours are currently operating on a pilot basis and are therefore not necessarily a permanent addition to dorm life. Any permanent changes will have to go through the new Vice President of Student Life Shirley Hoekstra, who starts in July. “I think it’s a good change,” said BV Resident Director Ted Walter. “I believe it was a good process ... it was a carefully constructed decision to help meet student needs. On the whole, the changes have been well received. The biggest concern that I’ve heard so far has to do with noise.” Because the new hours come on a trial basis, the changes may not be permanent. According to Walters, the major concern is the noise level in the halls, especially because of the many students who work early on Saturday mornings and need their sleep. Another concern is the greater responsibility given to RA’s, as the extension of open house hours means that they have been given greater responsibilities. However, Konyndyk said that he believes that “once a policy like this is created, it is difficult to go back to the previous policy.” Many RA’s have differing opinions on the policy change. “I think the extension of open house is useful and beneficial to many of the students in my dorm,” said third Timmer RA Chrissy Roth. “Speaking from the viewpoint of an RA, [however] I don’t think an extra hour is absolutely necessary. I realize that it allows for people to socialize more, but it also creates more of a problem when it comes to discipline late at night.” Chris Baker, RA on first VanDellen, said, “I feel that the extension of open house hours is unnecessary. I also feel that leaving the women’s basement open until 1:00 is unsafe, since it becomes an honor system for people to leave when the RA’s are not doing rounds at 1:00 every day.” Witte said that the extension of the hours from noon to 4:00 p.m. was consistent with the open house policy on Saturdays, and the addition of the extra hour after midnight was in response to student requests through the Student Senate survey. The extra hour was added to Friday and not Saturday because of the extra staff work involved, which could interfere with plans for church on Sunday morning. Although open house hours have been extended, Residence Life is still committed to reserving a few non-open house evenings a week. Some of the reasons behind this commitment include the greater opportunities non-open house evenings offer for studying, participating in programs and activities of the residence halls, and for developing a sense of community among the individuals on a floor. Responses of on-campus residents were largely in favor of the policy change varied, but some students had questions. Students who did not like the four hours added to Friday afternoons pointed out that many students are still in class at that time, so the extra hours seem wasted. KE resident Jamie Botsko said, “The one hour at the end is good, but I think the four hours at the beginning are unneeded and unuseful.” Among those who did not like the hour at the end, many cited the noise level as their main complaint. “I like the four hours at the beginning,” said BV resident Nichole Regiani, “but the hour at the end bugs me because I want to go to sleep.” Then there are also those who do not have much use for open house. “It doesn’t really affect me, since I don’t have a boyfriend,” said sophomore Lindsay Raterink. “I’m not going to be calling somebody and saying, ‘Come on over! We can be together now!’” |
|||
 BACK TONEWS |
|||||
|
|
|||||
Residence Life Division makes changes to policy, but leaves some
in the dark